one for the plumbers out there....

[NikNak]

Hello all....


Ok... a friend of mine has just had a new central heating system installed as her old boiler had flames coming out of it... "is that not supposed to happen then.."? she asked..... :shock:

So.... the old system was a warm air jobby which she didnt really like, and i dont blame her.
She decided to bite the bullet and go for a full installation of a combi boiler & rads.

So she got several quotes.... (bare in mind its only a 2 bed end of terrace house, so only 4 rads and a towel rail in the bathroom) first from the gas board.... a little over 7K..! another around the 4K mark, but she decided to go with the guy who quoted £3700, a little bit of haggling and got him down to £3500.

All went to plan.... a 3 day install was allowed for, and i think she said he had to come back on the 4th day just to finish the wiring. No worries...

"Is it all nice and toasty now...?" i ask (she's been without heating for 12 days...)
Yes, she says.... but... its a little noisy at times
Oh, why's that i ask....
well, it's probably that i'm not used to pumps and fans and stuff....
i says yeah that's true...
but its been put in the loft as well....
REALLY...!! says i....


Now i'm no expert, or a plumber, or a gas man.... but that does seem like a very strange installation to me.... :shock:

I mean, what happens when it get really cold up there, and on the flip side really hot in the summer...?

I've heard of boilers being put in pantry's, utilities, garages even bedrooms.... but the loft...!?!?!?

Am i totally out of touch here, or is this considered 'normal'


Nick

 

[Karl]

Don't know if it's "normal", but i've done work for several customers who have had the boiler in the loft.

Cheers

Karl

 

[dj.]

Not always the best place for a boiler from an access point of view but acceptable as long as adequate protection is provided against frost.
In small dwellings the loft space is sometimes the only practical place to install a boiler particularly with the new regs governing the fluming of exhaust gases over neighbouring premises & the availability of an outside wall to mount the boiler on.

Regards.

dj.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Ours is in a side attic on the top floor. It's been fine there, and I think the boiler doesn't have quite as much muck passing through it as it's up high.

 

[Graham Orm]

Not unusual. I'd be interested to know what all the noises are?? There shouldn't really be any, especially with the boiler in the loft.

 

[Lons]

Not uncommon in terraced houses with limited space. There are a number around where my daughter lives and I suppose the cold is no more of a problem than an unheated garage or boiler house.

It shouldn't be noisy as I assume the pump will be housed within the boiler casing (is it a combi BTW?). The "noises" will be different to her old system but should be much quieter than her old fan opperated warm air system. In any event, modern pumps are very quiet. I wonder if she is getting vibration though the pipes which possibly haven't been secured properly?

Bob

 

[RogerS]

Not unusual. I'd be interested to know what all the noises are?? There shouldn't really be any, especially with the boiler in the loft.

Ceiling acting as a sounding board maybe?

My classic was a house where the vent pipe from the central heating system discharged into the cold water tank! I declined the offer of a cup of coffee.

 

[No skills]

Mines in the loft, pain in them posterior but also theres no room for it anywhere else (house is full of wood ).

 

[MMUK]

It's about time you started making things then no skills

 

[FarrellMackennon]

Yes it’s quite normal in some areas of the country where there are lots of terraced houses to have the boiler installed in the loft, simply because that’s the only place where it can go. It means that you have to have access to the loft in case anything goes wrong and the plumber needs to get up there quickly. Regarding the noises I would ask the guy who installed it to come back and have a look just in case something wasn’t connected properly and has come loose or needs adjusting as a brand new system like that should be very quiet, much quieter than the previous system of central heating at least.
----------------
Farrell Mackennon
http://londoncityplumbers.co.uk